Artist · chart history
Dio
Band Cortland United States Active 1982–2010 band with Ronnie James Dio
Dio formed in 1982 in Cortland, United States and was active until 2010. Dio has 129 chart appearances on 75 radio countdowns from 25 stations on RockLists, spanning 1983–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Rainbow in the Dark”, which appears on 61 lists with a best position of #22. The station that charted Dio most often is KISW (Seattle-Tacoma, WA), with 20 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1983.
Ronnie James Dio walked out of Black Sabbath in 1982 with drummer Vinny Appice in tow and a mission to build something of his own, and he named it after himself because there was never any doubt who was in charge. With Jimmy Bain on bass and Vivian Campbell on guitar, Dio hit the ground at full gallop: Holy Diver in 1983 is heavy metal at its most mythic and melodramatic, all thundering riffs and that huge, operatic voice soaring over the top.
The title track swings like a battleaxe and "Rainbow in the Dark" rides a bright, catchy hook straight into the heart of the thing, while "Stand Up and Shout" is a pure fist-in-the-air rallying cry. The Last in Line in 1984, with Claude Schnell adding keyboards, kept the flames high with "We Rock" and "Mystery", and Sacred Heart in 1985 brought "Hungry for Heaven" and "Rock 'n Roll Children".
After that the lineup never stayed put for long. Craig Goldy replaced Campbell, Rowan Robertson came in at the end of the '80s for Lock Up the Wolves, and later guitarists included Tracy G, Doug Aldrich and Warren DeMartini; Dio himself was the only constant. The band made ten studio albums, including Killing the Dragon in 2002, and the story ended in 2010, when stomach cancer took Dio at 67. Nobody sang metal quite like him.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Dio on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rainbow in the Dark | 61 | #22 | – | 1983 | |
| 2 | Holy Diver | 48 | #10 | – | 1983 | |
| 3 | The Last In Line | 7 | #439 | – | – | |
| 4 | Last in Line | 3 | #124 | – | – | |
| 5 | Hungry for Heaven | 1 | #313 | – | – | |
| 6 | Stand Up and Shout | 1 | #423 | – | – | |
| 7 | We Rock | 1 | #513 | – | – | |
| 8 | Mystery | 1 | #582 | – | – | |
| 9 | Wild One | 1 | #598 | – | – | |
| 10 | King of Rock n Roll | 1 | #645 | – | – | |
| 11 | Push | 1 | #72 | – | 2002 | |
| 12 | Better in the Dark | 1 | #85 | – | 2002 | |
| 13 | Rock 'n Roll Children | 1 | #804 | – | – | |
| 14 | Hey Angel | 1 | #855 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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